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Askellon Sector
The Askellon Sector is an Imperial sector in Segmentum Obscurus near the Halo Stars and the Eye of Terror. History Askellon is an ancient region, pre-dating the founding of the Imperium itself, and its history is filled with secrets and lies that have stained every generation. As if to compound its woes, the sector is cursed with a seemingly unending warp storm known as the Pandaemonium that waxes and wanes across the millennia. With each passing century it grows ever more intense and dangerous, raging like a hungry beast that seeks to devour the entire sector. Within Askellon, it is the prophesied Time of Ending, close to the culmination of the 41st Millennium. The Askellon Sector is home to several Rogue Trader dynasties, including the houses of Anzaforr, Surena and Roth. During M41, the Anzaforr and Surena dynasties engaged in a bitter naval feud over salvage rights on several worlds newly reclaimed from abating warp storms; the conflict was ended only when sector command threatened to intervene, and imposed sanctions of penance on both sides of the war. Galactic Position To rimward, the Askellon Sector is bordered by the Scarus Sector and the Ixaniad Sector. Known Worlds Worlds of the Processional :"The ambitious are driven to attain power, but they are so often entirely unsuited to holding on to it. It falls, then, to us, the unseen Lords of Askellon, to guide the hand that rules." ::— From the suppressed writings of the cult leader Johas Zadok While most of the systems along the Grand Processional are in some way important to the sector, whether from a military, economic, or governmental perspective, they are only bound through their proximity to the great Warp route that ties the sector together. As such, though, they are important beyond measure as stopping points for interstellar travel, and have been forced sometimes into becoming greater worlds than they would have been if their system had been more remotely located. They are Askellon's way stations, and few who cross its space have not stepped onto their soil at some point: *'Juno' - An Imperial Hive World that is the political seat and capital of the Askellon Sector. Despite its opulence, the notable Hive City Vesuna Regis hides a dark secret, for beneath it lies a horrid undercity where powerful rival gangs of mutants and Underhive scum thrive in the lawless depths, constantly waging brutal and ceaseless warfare upon one another. *'Desoleum' - A notorious Hive World, Desoleum's massive hive cities are home to deadly Flesh-cutter gangs. In a hive where oaths are sacrosanct, the harshest penalties in Desoleum are for those who abandon their debts and flee their obligations or worse, attempt to alter their oath-cogs to lessen their service time. First, the Oathless must be found, and specialist Bondhounds within the local planetary Enforcer corps, called the Sanctionaries, track them down. *'Enkidu' - Enkidu is a Feral World of impossibly dense, dark forests and endless swamps. An incredible array of fearsome beasts, most of them defying all categorisation and no two ever seeming to conform to even the broadest genus, roam its surface. So mindlessly hostile are the things of tooth, claw, and tentacle that dominate the benighted lands that the feral human populace must live high in the enormous, twisting, and distorted trees. Warriors daubed in bright paints defend villages made of wood and the metal debris from earlier efforts to subdue the world. Huts of crudely-joined armour plating cling precariously to the sides of oversized trees, linked together with rope bridges upon which warrior-sentinels maintain ceaseless vigil against the ravening abominations below. *'Kalto' - Located along the Grand Processional, the most stable Warp route in the Askellon Sector, Kalto is a large Agri-World whose bountiful production has made it the breadbasket for the untold billions who dwell within the neighbouring sub-sectors. This high productivity is believed to be due in part to Kalto's negligible axial tilt which, when combined with the planet's stable orbit relative to its brilliant K-class orange star, creates a near-perpetual growing season ideally suited for agriculture. Kalto is particularly known for its production of padonus rice, a genetically-modified crop developed by the Magi Biologis of Core Theta, as well as large quantities of local emdur grain. *'Snope's World' - Atop the main hab-city on the Civilised World of Snope's World lies the glittering Platinal Palace. Formed of fractalised sheets of iridescent metals, it shines like a beacon above the solemn clouds and polluted swamps that cover much of the rest of the planet. It is said that the palace's surface holds a million million angles, each one unique across its conical form. Within are the hive city's ruling families, each as superficially gleaming and beautiful as their dwelling. Here they plot endlessly against each other. The Tributary Worlds :"These so-called lords condemn in others sins they themselves flaunt shamelessly. They burn entire worlds over the slightest divergence. They shall not do so here, even should we all be drowned in the Sea of Souls." ::— Intercepted Vox transmission, used to implicate Lord Dyrulli in the Vaxi Atrocity Other worlds beyond those linked through the Grand Processional wield great power in Askellon's fate. Systems such as these can have unparalleled influence across the sector, and some even outside of it. Some of these planets claim to date back to Askellon's founding in the Age of Technology, others are only several millennia in age, but all are puissant and between them control most of the commerce, industry, and manpower of Askellon. *'Aventine' - A Civilised World. *'Cel' - An Agri-World. *'Cerix Magnus' - Cerix Magnus is perhaps the greatest of the many Adeptus Mechanicus Forge Worlds within the sector, and is strict in following only the most sanctified of technology patterns. The Tech-priests of the Regimen Affirmator work there to ensure no forge strays from the correct dictates of the Omnissiah, and that all proper obsequiences are made. *'Terminus Prime' - Terminus is often the first developed star system a vessel travelling to Askellon encounters, and is a prosperous centre of trade. *'Thaur' - The Shrine World/Cemetery World of Thaur is the resting place of billions, overflowing with the remains of the powerful and the saintly. Millions more of the humble and poor strive that their remains also find a place on this holy world, arranging in life that their dead forms be shipped there. It is at the Blessed Charnaven that their untold tonnes of flesh arrive for final rest. The Osseiates of the Charnaven inscribe into each bone a unique prayer before it is used to fortify a basilica or pave one of the kilometre-wide walkways that encircle the world. No bone is unused, and each becomes an eternal offering to the God-Emperor. *'Laran 9k' - A Munitorum World where tens of thousands of the Astra Militarum's men, tanks, and support vehicles are regularly prepared for embankment and outfitting. *'Port Aquila' - Port Aquila is located in a dense region of asteroids and it is primarily controlled by the Greater Askellon Trade Combine which continually works a stranglehold over commerce across the belt. The Combine's chief rival, the Pale League, operates across the belt as one of the premier smuggling operations in the region. Made up of failed merchants and sometimes even Rogue Traders who saw their fortunes fall from catastrophic expeditions or piratical raids, Port Aquila is a relatively recent formation, but it is growing in power in the sector. *'Port Lokhart' - The Imperial Navy maintains several facilities in the sector, collectively referred to as the Askellon Station Command. The most important of these is Port Lokhart, strategically located to provide its vessels with ready access to a number of Warp routes leading towards the nearby Scarus Sector, as well as away into the unknown reaches beyond the sector's trailing borders. *'Vanth' - On the Death World of Vanth, the primary danger comes from the plant life that makes up its trackless jungles and swamps. The Low Worlds :"Rebels rise up and the Segmentum lords blame our sinfulness, never their own incompetence. The Warp surges forth and the Cardinals preach that the evil in our hearts has aggrieved the Emperor. Xenos fiends enslave our sons and daughters and the High Lords say that we are to blame, never that the Imperial Navy has been lax in the prosecution of its duties. Little wonder that the very stars abhor the rule of Terra, for what choice of path have we, the true sons of Askellon, ever been offered?" ::— Unnamed author, The Decline and Fall of the Askellon Sector Beyond the Grand Worlds and the Tributaries are those planets of the Askellon Sector categorised as the Low Worlds, those with only fragmented or hazardous Warp routes connecting them to other systems. Many are industrious contributors to the sector, lacking only better routes to allow them to become Tributary Worlds. Some are Frontier Worlds whose populations have never heard of the Imperium, or planets that have never known the tread of human feet. They are all nonetheless claimed by the rulers of Askellon, even if they exist as little more than an entry on a faded star chart: *'Angel KZ-8' - Very little is known of the Angel KZ-8 System. The only solid descriptions are those logged by the Auriga Navigator Clan, which fled the Askellon Sector five standard centuries ago, and though scouts from the Surena Dynasty briefly examined this system for exploitation, the notes were sparse and interspersed with madness. Most hold the existing information to be unreliable at best, and the product of broken minds and shattered ambitions at worst. What reports appear to agree on is that somewhere about the system's star there circles a black armoured fortress bristling with weaponry, its clifflike slabs encrusted with statues, surmounted by ebon gargoyles and etched with kilometre after kilometre of spidery text. The fortress appears studded with Augur pylons covered with sensors and probes, all trained intently upon the seemingly empty voids trailing the sector. What those silent sentinels might be keeping watch for remains a mystery, as do the identity of the fortresses' builders and what might trigger their eventual return. Accounts claim that the fortress is empty, though the Machine Spirits guiding its countless weapons turrets remain vigilant. Silent vacuum gates await the arrival, or perhaps return, of its masters. *'Far Draconis' - Far Draconis is a world that exists at the very edge of the sector, and one occupying a precarious Warp route. It is an Ocean World orbited by a satellite so dense that it inflicts an incredible tidal effect upon the seas below. As the satellite passes through the sky, the highly toxic seas are drawn towards it. As the acidic waters rise hundreds of metres, so the seabed on the other side of the world is exposed, a process that takes around forty solar hours. What continues to draw curious individuals to Far Draconis is the fact that, when exposed by its satellite's tidal pull, the ocean floor is revealed to host many kilometres of sunken ruins. None can tell if they are of human or xenos origin, but the ruins are certainly ancient. All are of a uniform white marble, covered in tonnes of seaweed and barnacle-like life. Amongst the massive structures can be found oddly-shaped metallic objects known to command high prices amongst those Imperial aristocrats with a taste for the forbidden. The true function of these small artefacts is unknown, but many become the basis for fine jewellery or unusual sculptures. Recovering them is a dangerous task, even once a dry area is found. Lurking predators, evolved to the tidal shifts, emerge to attack without warning. Salvagers must fight them off and locate treasures quickly, for the highly toxic seas soon return -- and there is no way of halting the lethal waters. *'Gamma Euclid 13' - The Euclid 13 System exists at the extent of the Askellon's trailing border. The system is rarely accessible, having been cut off by the Pandaemonium many times in history. All of the eight worlds in the system appear to be clones of one another, exhibiting nigh-identical mass, dimensions and other gross characteristics. The only variation to be found is in the surface conditions, but most Mechanicus researchers believe these merely a reflection of each planet's vicinity to the central star. So far as the archives relate, only a single world in the Euclid 13 System has been visited. The third planet out from its star, Gamma Euclid 13 is reportedly a world dominated by distorted terrain formations that appear twisted out of shape as if by the whim of some mad god. Enormous spirals, arches, and limbs of rock tower far into the sky, seemingly unaffected by all normal laws of nature. It is not these strange formations that have earned the world a dire reputation, but that every expedition has fallen victim to some manner of guardian, only a handful of survivors returning to relate their terrible warnings of terrors emerging from the dark. *'Kul' - The world of Kul lies beyond Port Aquila and is counted amongst those worlds having fallen afoul to heresy and madness brought on by the proximity of the Pandaemonium. For much of its history, Kul was a Frontier World, undeveloped and of little interest to the great houses of Askellon. Its people were regarded as tainted and regressed, and few outsiders had any reason to visit the world. When Kul was engulfed by the Warp in the mid-38th Millennium, most thought it lost for all time, and none shed a tear for its populace. A standard century later, however, the Warp apparently spat the system out once more, and an Imperial Navy squadron was despatched from Port Lokhart to ascertain what, if anything, remained of its people. What the mission discovered was a cause for concern amongst savants of the Pandaemonium. The surface of the world was blasted beyond all recognition and its settlements reduced to ruins. Blanched bones littered the land, but were not of the natives -- they were from an Imperial Guard regiment thought lost in transit many centuries ago, judging from their tattered uniforms. Their vehicles also dotted the now-hellish rock. Subsequent investigations failed to turn up any clues as to the population's fate, but most did meet with unexpected calamity and disaster. Currently the world is under quarantine, though this has not stopped agents of the black market Faceless Trade from plucking especially interesting items from its surface to sell across the sector. *'Nurn Delta' - A world on the rimward edge of the Stygies Sub-sector and far from any useful routes, Nurn Delta has never truly been counted amongst its worlds. So far as the great houses of Askellon are concerned, it is a world of wind-blasted plains populated by savages, barely able to speak and concerned only with braining one another with large rocks. This combination of isolation, apparent lack of natural resources, and the utterly regressed state of the native human population means that few Askellian voidships ever visit it. Vessels from elsewhere entirely visit it, however, drawn there for unique reasons of their own. Once per generation, a warship bearing livery of brightest sky and purest cloud arrives by way of Warp routes not known to any of Askellon's Navigator Clans. Small parties of huge warriors suddenly appear on the surface at a time and place foretold at the height of the previous visitation. Their arrival heralds a period of trials, wherein the chosen sons of the numerous tribes set aside their rivalries and compete against one another for the favour of the sky warriors. These contests are waged until only one warrior from each tribe remains. From these, the visitors select those they judge worthy to begin the process of training and transformation that will, in a small fraction of instances, lead to the initiation of a new brother Astartes in their ranks. It is a matter of great anticipation amongst the tribes when the foretold time is almost upon them. Many hold that the wait is itself a test of faith, and the tribes must prove themselves worthy by engaging one another in renewed hostilities. As the time of trials approaches, the tension nears a fever pitch that will only be relieved when at last the sky warriors return to Nurn Delta. Other Sector Worlds *'Hulee V' - A notable Hive World, the hive city on Hulee V known as Hive Krakex is a huge edifice that pierces the polluted skies of this Industrial World. Hive Krakex appears more mountain than building. Generations continually build new outer layers that roll off the surface layers like lava dripping down a volcano. Each new layer stretches its bulk across the surrounding wastelands and devours kilometres away from the ragged millions teeming outside its circumference. Billions more exist inside, transforming bulk-imported raw ores into the sheet plasteel that protects many of the main battle tanks and fortresses across the sector. *'Ossuar' - Ossuar is a Shrine World located in the Pollom System. A gargantuan mausoleum covers much of its main continent, where several of the blessed Imperial Saints who helped establish the sector are laid to rest in archeotech stasis chambers. Flocks of attendants work constantly to maintain the chronically entombed state, the idea of the saints becoming exposed to time too horrible to contemplate. *'Core Theta' - An extreme Forge World, the Magos Biologis of this world continuously work on the edge of tech-heresy; in many cases, concerning the limits of the organic and not the technological. Their primary focus is constant experimentation upon the rigours of the flesh and the limits of organic life. *'Rhodin IV' - Another notable Forge World, the Cult of the Machine God has occupied this world for several thousand standard years, ever since it was awarded to the Adeptus Mechanicus for its aid in repelling a nearby Orkuprising. Rich in Promethium and other useful ores, this once verdant world has since become layered with plasteeland pollutants. Factories many kilometres tall churn out a wide variety of armaments and munitions. Deep mines that weave through the planet's crust, so invasive that networks of cyclopean support beams are needed to buttress the immense weight of the manufactoria that cover the surface. *'Selvanus Binary '- The trailing side of the Askellian Cyclopian Sub-sector is a vast expanse of open space. On its inner edge sits the Forge World of Selvanus Binary, known throughout Askellon for the high quality of its products. One of the smallest of four planets in a binary star system, it is the only one capable of supporting life. Even so, the forges have irrevocably altered the planet to suit their needs, by covering the surface in all manner of refineries and manufacturing centres. It is now a strongly polluted planet, toxic to any human without protective gear or heavy augmentations, and very inhospitable -- all as per the Omnissiah's wishes. *'Gregorn' - A Feral World, Gregorn is a world of violence, where the primitive human natives fight each other while struggling to survive against tectonic upheavals and predatory megafauna. *'Rund' - Another notable Feral World of the sector, Rund has only recently been visited by the [https://warhammer40k.fandom.com/wiki/Missionary Missionaria Galaxia], who have begun spreading the Imperial Creed of the Emperor's holy words in a concentrated effort to rekindle the belief of those humans long separated from the True Faith. *'Novabella' - A relatively unsophisticated Agri-World, Novabella is an isolated but loyal provider for a significant portion of the local sub-sector's foodstuffs. This world has become an Adeptus Ministorum bastion devoted to tending crops and faith alike. From its start, it had been designated to support the Imperial war machine through food, not men, given the relatively low population. *'Echonis Augury' - This ancient void station originally served as a major Adeptus Mechanicus research site. Echonis Augury drifts along the sector's rim and away from regular void traffic. Hundreds of Tech-priests and Servitors worked here to info-scour the surrounding parsecs in a secretive quest. Several standard centuries ago, a supply vessel arrived to find the station empty and barren. Since then it has become a popular trading post for Rogue Traders and common Imperial merchants alike. Hundreds live on it, with extended generations working to maintain and expand the site, all with occasional concerns over the fate of the previous occupants. Category:Segmentum Obscurus Sectors